Thailand

On September 12-14, the Ursuline of the Roman Union held a JPIC Asia-Pacific meeting at the Ursuline Provincialate in Bangkok. Sr. Siphim Xavier, OSU, who is a contact person for the province of Thailand and also member of Talitha Kum Thailand, got a chance to share TK’s work in the country. Fr. Pichet Saengthien, S.J. also presented on the topic of Laudato si’.

Sr. Francoise and Sr.Kanlaya from Talitha Kum Thailand were invited to give a talk on Human Trafficking to Bishop Louis Chamnien Santisukniran and 180 priests and lay community leaders of Diocese leaders of Diocese of Thare, Northeast of Thailand. The Bishop has signed on to network with TK Thailand.

Talitha Kum Thailand has constructed a new house for Maleenu, who was a trafficking survivor from Ambon, Indonesia. He was rescued by one of our committee members. Today we made an official donation of this small but beautiful house to him and his family.

Talitha Kum Thailand recently unveiled its country report for past year, highlighting their creative and dynamic ATIP activities around Thailand. The report might give you some ideas for how to promote ATIP in your congregation or organization! View it below, or download it from our Resource page.

PADANG BESAR, Thailand (AP) — Thai police trekked into the mountains and dug up 26 bodies from dozens of shallow graves at an abandoned jungle camp that’s been linked to human trafficking networks, which activists say are “out of control” in the Southeast Asian country.

A lone survivor, now hospitalized with severe malnutrition, told authorities smugglers escaped days earlier with around 100 Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted religious minority in neighboring Myanmar.

Police Gen. Jarumporn Suramanee, who oversaw the excavations in southern Thailand, said Saturday it would take time to determine the victims’ identities and cause of death.

“We will have to wait for the DNA test results and analysis from other evidence,” he told The Associated Press. He said that 32 graves were found scattered in Padang Besar, a sub-district in Songkhla province, but some turned out to be empty. He did not expect the death toll to rise above 26.

The discovery of a hidden mountain camp in southern Thailand, long considered a regional trafficking hub for migrants seeking a better life in third countries, was a sharp reminder that little has changed despite repeated assurances by authorities that they are addressing the root causes.